Tales of Faerun

[josh900]

"That's alright." Tannin said to Nawen. "Doubt there's much more interesting than this going on back there. So how can I help with this?"

--------------

 

Once again a blush spread over Lucas's face when he looked over at Aurora. He still hadn't fully recovered from seeing Ianthe and Aurora certainly wasn't helping things.

 

Noticing this Azuris let out a sigh. "Easy there Aurora, you'll give the lad here another heart attack."

 

"I'm.. I'm fine." Lucas stuttered. "Just.. not quite used to being around this many women is all." He said in an embarrassed tone.

 

"You'll get used to it." Azuris grunted as he looked up at the dragon above them. "Is that thing following us or something?"

-------------------

 

Having enough of sir Meowsalot's foolishness, Gizmo finally pounced onto the energetic kitten and started biting at his ears. When Hexol caught sight of this he yelled at the cat. "Gizzy! Don't eat the other cat! You'll get a giant hairball that way!"

Hearing this Gizmo decided that he didn't care and continued to bite at Sir Meowsalot anyways until the shadow of the silver dragon flew over, causing him to look up at the dragon flying above. "Todd?"

 

[Brutii]

Daud was moving back towards the camp with the deliberation of a sleep walker. He had slipped into an absent minded state as he made his way back, apparently complacent... Then, out of the corner of his eye, Daud spied something move through the canopy of the trees, and looked up, straining. He dropped the deer to the floor, somewhat relieved not to have the weight, and took a few steps as he kept his eyes on the sky... Then he saw it pass again, a silver dragon that flew against the back drop of the sky. At first he was shocked and afraid of the beast that flew above, and quickly skulked back into the undergrowth, moving towards the camp, trying to remain out of view from the sky. Upon laying eyes on the others and noting they were not afraid, he glanced up again and then realised why no one was afraid. He cursed his own stupidity, dragons that were the colours of metals were supposed to be good. A few seconds later, that feeling wore off and was replaced. He smirked to himself, wondering how much of a fool he must have looked if the dragon saw him, creeping around the undergrowth like a mouse, a silly mistake indeed... And one he was glad he hadn't made while in the company of others. He'd have to be sharper in future, he remembered that if was he himself that had once said that one should always remain alert. Maybe just another reminder that he was letting himself go. A result of being underworked, perhaps. Maybe he should have just stuck to slitting throats, he'd be a richer and would be getting much more practice. But... 'anyone can destroy something, it takes a great man to create something' But what was he creating... Well, that was at least a question he could answer, at least partly

As he rose and entered the camp, he caught some words, but didn't take the time to find out who spoke them. Instead he watched the dragon as it gracefully moved through the air. "Its something I've not seen any day. I'd heard of them, but I never thought I would see one." He said, mostly to himself. He wondered what it was like. To fly, to be so powerful and old. It must feel so free, to fly so high and see everything below like ants, to be untouchable and to move with such grace and fluidity. Leaving and moving across the world faster than anyone on the ground could ever hope. No barriers nor lakes nor mountains to act as a block. That would be true freedom.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Aurora gave Azuris an apologetic pout and replied coyly "Terribly sorry, I don't want to kill anyone with my 'smoking hot body and devilish good looks! Such a terrible way to go!" She chuckled heartily and sat upright again, cradling her knees to protect what little modesty she possessed in her underwear, and turned her soft brown gaze to the skies. gazing in wonder at the dragon above them; she often wondered what it'd be like to fly... well, she was quite sure she'd flown for a few moments... off that one tavern roof...

 

"Of course you'll get used to it Lucas, we have a desert to traverse yet! It'll be as little clothing as possible allll day long!"

 

Xallistine retained his usual position near Rhaine's side after refreshing himself in the waters; they were such a welcome comfort, and were a gentle, cool reminder of home... but as Aurora said, they had yet another desert to traverse, and such a thing could prove problematic in his current form. Xallistine made a mental note reminding himself to attune his human disguise to long durations, so that he could cross the desert unscathed.

[Flipout6]

In response to Dri's completely uncalled-for splashing (that soaked him) Weyland forgot all about his scars, gave her a look, and then cackled evilly as he grabbed her by the arm and jumped into the lake, dragging her with him. He made sure to throw some water her way a few times as he made his way out and onto the shore, accidentally swallowing water once or twice when a wave hit him from the wrong angle. He pulled himself back into shore and then, deciding that with his terrible swimming he just might manage to drown himself.

 

Sybille, meanwhile, spent a longer time swimming and simply enjoying the cool feel of the water against her skin. This didn't stop her from splashing Lucas with water to try and wake him up or waiting for Marie to lay down her weaponry and change into some lighter clothing, and then grabbing her and throwing her ten feet out onto the water. It was a lot of fun, but after pulling her friend out, getting changed in her tent and setting up her bedroll for the night, she decided she wanted to relax on dry land for a while, and also took a seat by the fire. Marie considered going hunting but refused, citing her lack of experience in the bush as the reason, and disappeared into her tent.

 

That's when the silver dragon showed up, making Sybille jump despite herself when she saw it. When Azuris pointed out that it was following them, she couldn't help but declare, "Nobody did me the courtesy of telling me we were being followed by a dragon!"

 

"Ah, you're new. Weirder stuff happens." Amendale mentioned as casually as he could, grinning.

 

"Like hurricanes hitting Westgate and a hormonal centaur fugitive confronting us with her mistrust." Weyland sniped.

 

"And teenaged boys getting knocked out when they see a naked woman." Sybille added. "....Wait, that's not so unusual." She coughed. "I hear." Weyland suddenly choked up on a bit of liquor he was drinking, spitting some into the flames, which lit the alcohol up like wildfire, and Weyland was nearly the victim of an alcoholic spontaneous combustion that would have left him with more than a few singed hairs. Amendale, Sybille, and Annette laughed at him.

 

"'Ey! No sibling wants to hear that!" He defended weakly, still coughing up liquor. After that, they all had a dead deer in front of them. "Huh?"

 

"Well, who wants to get it cooking?" Sybille asked loudly. Marie decided she had nothing better to do and started preparing it.

 

Aurora said something about wearing as little clothing as possible in the desert, to which Annette had a quick reply. "You can get heatstroke doing that, going....scantily is a bad idea."

Edited April 22, 2014 by Flipout6

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe noticed the dragon flying overhead and shouted to it, her hands cupped around her mouth, "Hey, don't be a stranger! Land and talk to us! We're real friendly!"

Arva clapped a hand over her mouth, "Silver dragon or not, that thing could eat us all! Don't ask him to land!"

Aera chuckled, "As if it heard her from all the way up there."

Upon the deer being dropped in front of the group, Aera pulled the dagger from her boot and nudged the doe with her foot as Marie started to approach the deer and slit it open, "Good catch, Daud. I hate to steal it from you, Marie but I'd love to clean it. No offense intended, but I think I may be able to teach you a thing or two about cleaning these guys."

Going to her saddlebags, Aera pulled out a double-sided hook and set about hanging it from a tree limb. Being so large, it was easy to heft the deer up onto the hook and spear it through the ankles, effectively hanging it by its legs. She then deepened Marie's cuts along the abdomen, splitting the deer open with one giant vertical slice. She began to remove the offal, letting the intestines and such drop to the ground and handing the rest to Marie, who stuffed them into a large wooden bucket.

After a few minutes of such work, Aera had butchered the deer and acquired some choice cuts of venison from the hard work in the process.

She overheard Sybille's comment about naked women, then asked Marie if this was her first time cleaning a deer, and was met with a confused but positive answer. Aera dipped her hand in a pool of the doe's blood and drew a few tribal-looking markings on Marie's face with the sticky, wet blood. "Congratulations, you're a woman now! At least, according to tradition."

Marie could only stand still with disgusted shock as she felt the warm blood on Aera's fingers slather its way onto her skin and drip sickly down her neck. When she was finished, the young noblewoman's eyes were huge and she had to force her mouth not to hang open, a task made much easier when she failed and swallowed warm crimson dribble.

".....Ahem, whose traditions are these? And why do they apply to me?"

Aera shrugged, "It's just been a tradition where I'm from forever. Now come on, help me carry this meat back to the party."

And Marie silently obliged.

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine glanced to Azuris, her brow furrowed, "Wait, didn't someone say something about a silver when we were back in Westgate, during the storm? It could be that this dragon is following us...for whatever reason. In any case, I wouldn't necessarily think it a bad thing."

 

Suddenly, the dragon faltered in its circling when Ianthe shouted for it to come down. Zorica's amber eyes grew wide, and she froze as she was pulling on her shirt, "Uh...I think it did hear you."

 

The silver dropped in altitude at a rapid pace, becoming larger and larger as it neared the encampment. Its rhythmic wing-beats pushed over the tall grass as it hovered just a few feet in the air before finally touching down with its back feet. The dragon then grounded its forelegs with a loud thud and curled its wings to its body, settling back on its haunches and surveying the group with sharp silvery eyes.

 

The dragon was a model specimen of its kind, its silver scales glinting with a mirror-like sheen in the firelight. Its head was elegantly shaped, the snout blunt and beak-like, sporting the single smooth plate that gave the silvers the nickname "shield dragons." Its equally smooth horns pointed backwards over its neck, and were tipped in bluish lavender. Its impressive dorsal frill was colored similarly, though judging from the length, this particular dragon was not amongst the oldest of its kin. Smaller matching frills graced its chin and ears. No teeth were visible from its closed mouth, making it seem less intimidating than its chromatic cousins.

 

Nevertheless, Dagny couldn't help but try to scoot farther away from the dragon until she bumped into Conall, whose blue eyes were wide in awe. He had thought Ivanthyriatryx majestic despite her evil - but this silver clearly outmatched the green. Theia jumped back to her feet and skittered away from the dragon, moving to the opposite side of the fire. Zorica's mouth hung open, as she was still frozen with her shirt half on. Even Sir Meowsalot ceased his tumble with Gizmo and stared.

 

Rhaine slowly stood and half-bowed to the dragon, "Greetings to you. I must say, I don't think we expected you to accept our friend's invitation. Nevertheless, you are welcome at our fireside for as long as you like."

 

At this, the dragon slid down onto its belly and crossed its front legs before it like a cat, its muscles rippling under its shining hide. Its mouth opened in a slight smile, oddly expressive, like that of the brass Charmelion, and it addressed the group in a deep male voice that sounded not unlike someone speaking inside a bell.

 

"I thank you for your invitation and your words of welcome. You...are an interesting lot, I must say," his claws kneaded the ground before him as he talked.

[Deleted6317247User]

"I don't suppose you carry any hunting knives with you?" Nawen asked as she began cleaning the animal. She left most of her equipment back at the camp, as she wasn't expecting to catch anything this big, and now they'll have to leave quite a lot of it behind.

 

"Though you could also watch out for any more animals that might have caught the scent of the blood." Nawen knew that the sounds bison made while he tried to escaped scared some animals off, but it didn't matter to her as they already caught one big enough for the dinner. As she cleaned the animal she looked up at the sky and noticed a dragon circling above something. "Must be our camp. We always attract trouble." She thought as she started cleaning the meat as fast as she could, and cutting best pieces to take with them, while leaving the rest for the animals.

 

As she was done, she took some cloth bags from her pack to carry the meat back to the camp where they could cook some and salt whatever was left. "If that dragon won't eat us all first." She thought to herself as she handed a bag to those who remained with her, she took one herself and rushed back to the camp.

 

"Stupid dragon, why does it have to be a dragon?" She mumbled as she hurried to reach the camp before the dragon landed or burned their friends from above. While she ran back to the camp, Rhegar caught up with her, carrying a large rabbit in his teeth.

 

When they reached the camp, Nawen ran towards the fire pit shouting, "we need to leave, there's a dra-" she stopped in her tracks as she noticed the silver dragon in the camp, and Rhaine was talking to him, "gon..." She started at the dragon while trying to catch her breath. She ran as fast as she could to reach her friends before it was too late, and it was all for nothing. The silver dragons are known to be friendly.

 

"Uh... hello." She smiled sheepishly.

=================================

Shalena jumped from her spot by the fire when the dragon landed in their camp. "By the hells," she exclaimed, "this is the second dragon I see while traveling with you lot. How many dragons have you encountered before we joined?!"

 

Moments later when nobody else seemed scared by the dragon, and the Doomguide even invited him to stay at the fire, she sat down again but still feeling rather wary of the dragon.

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe was stunned to see the dragon land and begin to talk. She admired its shimmering scales and booming voice before blurting out, "I'm Ianthe, and this is Arva. That's Aera over there. There's Rhaine and Dagny and that one over there's Conall," She continued in this manner until every single party member had been named, as if it were her job to introduce everyone.

Arva remembered Charmelion from their trek across the desert and figured this dragon was likely just as friendly, but felt a little wary. After all, this dragon had been watching them. "Yes, I'm Arva..."

Aera smiled as the dragon landed, as she'd been proven wrong in the most direct sort of way possible. She smiled as she began slicing up cuts of venison, "You're welcome to what I didn't get off that carcass over there. Probably a small meal for you, but a meal nonetheless. If not, we'll have plenty of more choice venison cooked up in a little while."

Arva, suddenly calm and collected, then snatched the dagger from Aera and said, "I have an idea," before slicing the meat into sizable cubes before skewering the cubes of the meat on sticks with varying sliced vegetables from their supplies. He then decided to take out a link of sausages from his pack, deciding they would spoil soon anyway if not cooked tonight, and skewered those as well. "We can each cook our own food tonight."

Ianthe clapped with vigor, as if this were the best idea she'd heard all night.

"Arva the chef. Who would have guessed?" Aera muttered while rolling her eyes before taking the largest cuts of meat and rubbing them down with spices and herbs, "If you don't want my kill, you could always eat these... Nawen and crew have just brought a ton of meat with them, so you could eat that as well. Not sure if you prefer your meat cooked or raw. I've never met a dragon before."

"Isn't this the most she's talked since she's gotten here? Oh, hello Nawen." Arva mused, speaking to the entire group as he handed out the kabobs and skewered weenies to everyone.

[AurianaValoria1]

"Two living," Rhaine replied to Shalena, "A gold and a brass. And, of course, Valthanarax."

 

The silver eyed Nawen as she ran into the camp, and when she grinned sheepishly, the dragon offered a grin of his own in return, "Well, hello to you as well."

 

To the weretigress, he added, "I'm not as picky as some, though I do prefer cooked human fare..."

 

He then deftly took up one of the kabobs in his beak-like mouth and held it before the flames of the bonfire. After a few moments, the dragon snapped his jaws quickly and down the kabob went, the stick breaking into pieces along with the meat and vegetables with a resounding crunch. Swallowing, the dragon blinked twice and then remarked, "Interesting. An ingenious invention."

 

"He ate the stick..." Zorica muttered with slight disbelief, having finally dressed herself.

 

"They can eat anything, or so I hear," Conall added.

 

Dagny gulped loudly.

[GrueMaster]

Tenebris stayed inside his bathhouse much longer than anyone else did in the water, the sun having already gone down, a solemn expression on his face as he debated what exactly he should do next. He had finished bathing, but stopped to rinse the rime from his clothes and while waiting for them to dry, he decided to pull out his dragon knucklebones and look at the fortunes of the others.

 

Several companions came up as having good fortunes, some of them with a touch of misfortune to them. Nothing new there. A couple had mixed futures waiting for them. Again, nothing new to the half-vampire. One came up exceedingly bad in comparison to the others, causing a frown to appear on the Jergali's face. Tough break... he reflected, noting the companion's connections to the party. Hope it's nothing too serious...

 

The last cast, however, caught the seer completely off guard. "What in the Hells...?"

 

Inconclusive...

 

Befuddled, Tenebris cast the bones again, meeting the same result again. Aggravated now, he rolled the bones a third time...

 

Inconclusive...

 

What is going on? This is unprecedented... In all his years of fortune-telling, his seeings had never come up without an answer. He had had uncertain ones, ones where the future lay slightly obscured, but this? No answer at all... how are you hidden from fate itself...? Actually perturbed for once by a telling, the priest gathered his clothes and and knuckle-bones and went to the camp... just in time to see the gargantuan dragon landing among the party...

 

Aw, hells, Jergal! he cursed silently. If you want me to die, why would you send a dragon of all things to eat me? he thought sarcastically, before noticing it was a silver dragon who was behaving rather civil and relaxed a little. Perhaps this will not be so bad... All the same, the Jergali made sure to hide his dragon bones. Wouldn't want to actually be eaten, now do we?

Tak'we chee'd softly, obviously still displeased but remaining silent. Thri-kreen do not bathe in the water itself... we cleanse ourselves with wet cloth, so the water is not as dirtied as simply diving in it, and is kept relatively fresh... do the softskins not realize this is better for nature and them? The pink thri-kreen kept this to himself, though, instead grabbing a bucket and rag from the clutch's supplies and washing himself with water drawn from the lake, all the time keeping his distance from the splashes of his clutchmates.

"Thiss iss better than going in the water..." he muttered as he quickly finished cleaning himself, rolling his joints to make certain there was no water trapped in them. It does feel better being clean, though... Tak'we gave a chittering laugh as an absurd thought struck him. I have spent so much time with softskins now... their habits are wearing off on me...

Shaking his head, the warrior dumped the bucket on the ground and went about setting up the rest of camp. He had managed to keep busy well until one of the new softskins came back with a deer. *Tcktck!* It would be good having meat tonight. The thought of fresh meat made the thri-kreen salivate, mandibles lightly dripping. He watched as Aera went about cleaning the dead animal, nodding with approval. Although some of those organs are still edible... he thought, noting the bucket that the furry-one left.

Grabbing the bucket, Tak'we took the heart and the liver and skewered them on sticks. Remembering what had happened last time he had tried using the others' seasonings, he opted from using any and simply staked the meat near the fire by Arva's food. Poking at the organs once more before deciding they would cook well as they were, the thri-kreen began walking back to the bucket when he heard his clutchmates speak of (and to) a dragon above them.

What? He looked up just in time to see a silvery giant-flying-lizard swooping down upon the camp. By the spiritss! he exclaimed, taking several steps back as the dragon landed and spoke with them. What do we do...? he thought; his scythe was at the edge of the camp opposite from him and past the dragon. I wouldn't be able to reach it in time.

When the giant-flying-lizard spoke with them, and rather nicely, it gave Tak'we pause. Is it a good lizard? he thought, and began to ask such when Aera said the creature could eat some of their food and it said it liked cooked food. "Now, wait- NO!" *NRAK'TCK!* The lizard had eaten the food Arva had prepared, but had also caught the cooking organs Tak'we had set out as well.

Giving a cree of despair, Tak'we simply slumped down to his knees. "Is Tak'we ever going to get to have hiss own cooking?"

Dri struggled, but was helpless as Weyland succeeded in dunking her well into the water. "Okay, okay, I give!" she sent, standing up when he finally released her. Giving him a fake frown, she pouted as she teased him. "Touching me and treating me like that... you should be ashamed of yourself, Weyland Grey!" Failing to hide a smile, she sent a little more water at the man before grabbing for some soap and washing herself.

Oh, that feels good. Refreshed from bathing, Dri made her way back to camp and sitting near the fire, waiting for her underclothes to finish drying. She shook her head as Ianthe flashed everyone in the party, and gave Lucas a sympathetic look as he completely passed out from the sight. Poor boy...

She turned and listened quietly as the others bantered among themselves, feeling a twinge of jealousy as Aurora not-so-subtly flaunted her own beauty. Her looks are all natural... unlike mine... She looked at Weyland, and wondered if he was thinking of Aurora. Would he like her in that regard...? Oh, by Tymora, shut up! He's not like that! Shaking the thought away, she began dressing once her clothes were dry.

At the mention of a dragon, and then Ianthe inviting it to their camp, though, the girl froze where she stood and looked up, suddenly scared as a huge silver dragon landed by them. Instinctively stepping behind Weyland, she finished dressing slowly, terrified as she struggled to decide if the dragon was going to remain friendly or change on a whim and devour them. Oh, gods, why do you do this?